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Bill Hall, '51 and John Render, '71 Receive Distinguished Alumni Awards

The law school's alumni reunion weekend took place May 18 and featured a variety of activities. In addition to the Outstanding Alumna of the Year Award, there was a complimentary CLE program called Classes Without Quizzes, an all-class reception to honor the Distinguished Alumni Award recipients and dinners for the reunion classes.

More than 100 people attended the CLE sessions which included two hours of complimentary credit. Alumna Estacia Brandenburg, ’04, taught one hour on planned giving, and Professor Joel Schumm, ’98, taught a session entitled “The Place of Pop Culture in Persuading Trial and Appellate Courts.”

This year the all-class alumni reception and Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony commenced with remarks by Tom Martz, the new President of the Indiana University Alumni Association. Martz took the reigns of the IUAA in 2007 after the retirement of former director, Ken Beckley. Law school Alumni Board President Eric Reigner, ’88, was the master of ceremonies and Interim Dean Susanah Mead, ’76, also welcomed alumni and their guests back to their alma mater for the festivities.

The late William S. “Bill” Hall, ’51, and John Render, ’71, were honored for their contributions and service to the law school, the university, and the community. Rosanna Hardin Hall, Bill Hall’s daughter, accepted the posthumous award on behalf of her late father who passed away in 2004 at the age of 93. Hall, who founded the firm, today known as Hall Render Killian Heath and Lyman, in 1967, was known as a pioneer in the health law field. John Render, Hall’s partner at the firm, accepted his award in the presence of his family and colleagues. Render began working with Hall while still in law school and officially joined the firm after passing the bar in 1971. He is a well-known health law expert who has taught “Health Care Delivery and the Law” as an adjunct instructor for Indiana University’s Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree program in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA).

In 2003, the firm of Hall Render honored Bill and his wife Christine by donating funds to create space in Inlow Hall for the nationally known Center for Law and Health (now known as the William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health). The firm has also donated funds for an endowed professorship in health law which is held by Professor Eleanor DeArman Kinney, who co-directs the Hall Center along with Professor David Orentlicher.

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